Augusta, GA
Patrick Reed skewers Augusta National hole, wants it to ‘disappear’
Patrick Reed at the Masters on Friday.
getty images
AUGUSTA, Ga. — Like many players in what in the early going at least was a wet, windy and wild Masters, Patrick Reed was unable to complete his opening round Thursday. When darkness forced him and his playing partners, Sungjae Im and Kurt Kitayama, off they course, they were two-thirds of the way down the par-5 15th. When play resumed at 7:50 a.m. Friday, Reed, who at that point was two under on his round and squarely in the hunt, had 80 yards left from the left rough, from where he missed the green just long. He took two putts from there and made par. At the par-3 16th, Reed flared his tee shot wide right, more than 50 feet from his mark — “poor swing,” he said later — and three-putted from the fringe. Bogey.
Then came the par-4 17th, where a 283-yard drive up the right side of the fairway left Reed 171 to a back-right pin and directly into the blinding sun. Reed’s approach was on line, flying directly over the stick, but long. It bounded once on the back green and down into the collection area behind it, leaving him one of the hardest chips on the course, even for the owner of some of the softest hands in golf. Reed’s bump-and-run attempt back up the slope stopped just short of the putting surface, and two putts later, he had made a 5.
The home hole was even messier. Reed’s blocked drive burrowed into the trunk of a tree, forcing him to take an unplayable and leading to a double-bogey 6. Reed had played the closing three holes of his opening round in four over.
“A shock to the system,” he later said of his morning’s rough start. “Gut punch, for sure.”
But in his second round, Reed would punch back. In some of the wickedest conditions a Masters field has ever faced, Reed made three birdies and just two bogeys to post a two-under 70, which tied for the second-lowest round of the day (Ludvig Aberg managed a 69) and was more than five strokes better than the field average. At day’s end, Reed had climbed back to even par for the tournament and six off the lead. The 2016 green-jacket winner was back in the mix.
Following his second round, Reed offered a detailed deconstruction of the 21-and-change holes he had played. He said he was pleased with how he managed his game in the gusts, throttling back on some tee shots to ensure he found the fairway and committing to club selections. “It’s very easy to get guidey when it gets windy like this, especially around a golf course like this,” Reed said. “When that happens, Augusta National just absolutely will destroy you.”
Like the rest of the field, Reed had his ups and downs Friday, but one hole in particular stuck in his craw: how the 17th had treated him on his first go-around.
“Bad break there,” he said. “Felt like I played 17 exactly how I wanted to.”
But Reed didn’t leave it there.
“One night, 17 on this golf course is going to disappear, and I’m going to be the one that does it,” he said. “I hit a perfect drive this morning, hit the iron shot exactly how I wanted to and I was closer to 18 tee box than I was 17 green.
“Those things are what drive me nuts is hitting quality golf shots and walking off with bogey.”
Reed isn’t the first player to tweak the 17th hole — heck, even the course’s designer, Alister MacKenzie, thought the penultimate hole would be an acquired taste, because of the low-running approach shot for which its sloping green calls. “Until players have learned to play the desired shot,” MacKenzie wrote, “this will undoubtedly be one of the most fiercely criticized holes.” In 1999, when the hole was lengthened by 25 yards and also narrowed, not all players loved the changes, contending that the green was too severe to hold with a mid-iron. “Seventeen is ridiculous,” three-time champion Gary Player said that year. “Bobby Jones would turn in his grave.”
Thus far this week, the 17th is playing as the ninth-toughest hole with a 4.204 scoring average (as of midday Saturday). It has yielded one eagle, 12 birdies and 50 bogeys or worse.
Reed began his third round at 1:35 p.m.. playing alongside Adam Schenk. He bogeyed the first hole, birdied the second and as of this writing was still six off the lead.
Augusta, Ga. – A year ago when Quinasia Abercrombie was a freshman, she let her work on the court do the talking as she became one of the top players in the Peach Belt Conference. Abercrombie didn’t have to be a vocal leader since the Jaguars had several upper classmen that handled that role. This year, her sophomore season, Abercrombie is still one of the best players around, but now has become the vocal leader of the team, something that didn’t come naturally.
“I’m just leading my team by voice now, not just leading by example,” Abercrombie said. “Since I don’t really talk, I think they (my teammates) were really surprised, but they’re listening.”
She leads the Augusta women in several offensive categories and has proven to be a major asset to the program.
From Greenville, S.C., Abercrombie was an all-state high school player. She gives part of that credit to her siblings, one older brother and three younger brothers. She had to scratch and claw on the basketball court with them and she’s the first to give them credit for helping make her the player she is today. Abercrombie went as fas as saying she enjoys playing against guys since they’ll push her hard to become better, and she likes the competition.
Now, she’s also being pushed by coach Celeste Stewart. So much so, it’s taking Abercrombie out of her comfort zone. But it’s all for the betterment of her.
“She’s put me in multiple, uncomfortable situations, like talking, being more verbal, and just putting me in positions I wouldn’t normally put myself in,” added Abercrombie.
With the Peach Belt Conference tournament up next for the Jaguars, Abercrombie thinks this team can find another gear and make a run. While she has elevated her game, she knows her teammates can do the same.
Even going forward as a player, Abercrombie knows there’s plenty of room for improvement. One of the most notable for her, her ball handling skills.
“I know I like to pick up my dribble a lot and give it to my point guards,” said Abercrombie. “But I know I can bring it down the court, I just need to work on my ball handling and just being confident handling the ball.”
Fans of Jaguar Athletics can subscribe to the email listserve by clicking here. Fans can follow Augusta University at www.augustajags.com and receive short updates on Facebook at Augusta University Athletics and on Twitter at @AugustaJags.
AUGUSTA, Ga. (WRDW/WAGT) – The 2025-2026 Peach Belt Conference brackets are set, and there is plenty of shakeup this year.
Starting with the women’s bracket, Augusta University secured the #4 overall seed and will face #5 seed Middle Georgia in round one.
USCA’s women’s team did not fair as well, finishing in last place of this season’s standings.
On the men’s side, USCA’s men’s team secured the eighth and final spot in the conference tournament.
In a shocking turn of events, AU’s men’s team did not qualify for the tournament.
This marks the first time the program has missed the PBC tournament since Dip Metress took over the program in 2004.
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Augusta, Ga. – Augusta managed just five hits and one run and fell to Georgia Southwestern 12-1 Sunday as the Hurricanes win two of the three games of the series. The Jaguars are now 7-2 in Peach Belt Conference play and 11-8 overall. The Canes improve to 7-2 in conference play and 12-7 overall.
Georgia Southwestern scored runs in all but one inning including four runs in the first two innings and plated five runs in the fifth, highlighted by a grand slam.
The only Augusta run would come in the fourth inning. Landon Leonard would reach on an error and would come around when Kent Moon reached on a fielder’s choice that would plate Leonard.
Leonard, Moon, Davis Newman, Harris Bachelder and Jakob Cowart would collect the hits for the Jaguars.
Augusta will next be in action on Friday when the open up a three game series with Lander at Jaguar Field. First pitch on Friday is set for 6:00 p.m.
Fans of Jaguar Athletics can subscribe to the email listserve by clicking here. Fans can follow Augusta University at www.augustajags.com and receive short updates on Facebook at Augusta University Athletics and on Twitter at @AugustaJags.
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